Music Basics

Reading music can be as easy as ABC, as long as you know a few tricks. A piece of piano music has two staffs, the bass and the treble, indicating the right and left hand parts of the music. Each...

If you have deep feelings about a subject then writing about it should be quite easy. Remember every chord in the world has already been played so keep it simple because you can't possibly...

Dominant seventh chords are extremely valuable in music since they move down a fifth to “do” or tonic. They are useful as cadences and also in leading to a new key. Learn how to play them easily...

Many music book lists CHORD SYMBOLS along with the melody. These books are sometimes called FAKE BOOKS and they use the chord approach to playing piano. Other books such as movie tunes or church...

Here's a common scenario: You play "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band," and get pretty good at it. You decide to take things to the next level by purchasing an actual electric guitar. You pick up an...

There is a difference between playing the guitar for vocal backup and playing lead guitar, which I my cover in a future article. When you wish to provide the background musical rhythm from a...

Learning how to play jazz guitar can be somewhat intimidating. You should probably know a thing or two about scales and keys before you try to learn seven chords and how to syncopate properly. ...

There are many obstacles to learning to play the piano. Many of these obstacles involve our emotions and beliefs. Getting past these may be what finally gets you playing.

In studying music, it is beneficial to understand the harmonic motion of the piece. This can shed light on the composer's style, the style period, and idiosyncracies of the piece itself. ...

Songbooks that feature melody lines, sometimes with chord symbols and sometimes without, are called fake books. The name fake book comes from the fact that many musicians with a strong musical...

If you want to play jazz chords on the keyboard or piano, you would probably like to really master those chords. A friend who is a true jazz artist taught me how to study and learn the chords...

Teaching kids to play the guitar is rewarding but time-consuming, and while there are basics that must be taught, the teaching sequence and the time spent on each element varies with the child's...

Chords are the building blocks of music, but there are hundreds of possible chord combinations available. One look at a chord dictionary for piano and organ can be overwhelming. You might think it...

Guitarists like you and me enjoy strumming along with our major and minor chords. But if we'd like to build our chord pile, 7ths are the place to start. Let's do this...

Learning to make chords on the piano is one of the fundamental skills needed to play piano well. Knowing how to play chords will allow you to be able to read chord charts and play just about any...

Chords are basic building blocks for musical accompaniment. Chords are combinations of notes played simultaneously. Whereas some instruments (such as the trumpet or flute) play individual notes,...

With enough practice, anyone can get good at anything. But before you can become a pro, you have to learn how your instrument works, how to use it, and what to expect. Knowing these things will...

To construct chords on a piano, you'll need a basic understanding of piano keys and music theory. The white keys are regular notes, and the black keys can be used as sharps or flats, depending on...

Mastering scales and chords on a keyboard instrument gives you a greater understanding of musical theory and harmony, and gives you a great advantage in achieving technical prowess. Scales and...

The piano is one of the most common instruments played. In order to begin to understand, it is essential to know basic theory, such as chords.

Piano classics are the tunes most readily accessible to piano students. Piano classics range from classical music compositions such as "Fur Elise" by Beethoven to the pop classic "Close to You" by...

Converting music to tab can be done manually, if you learn how to read both sheet music and tablature, or it can be done using conversion software. Both methods are useful for guitar players,...

Ever since the Sex Pistols plugged in their guitars for their first show back in 1975, people have been fascinated and excited by punk rock music. It's simple, fun and easy to learn, which makes...

If you've never used guitar barre chords before, you may be wondering “What are they, and why would I want to use them?" A barre chord is an extremely versatile type of guitar chord where...

Harmonization is simply the addition of chords to a melody. Different kinds of chords give different enhancements to a piece of music.

Learning to read music isn't that hard to understand. There are 7 notes to learn and basically it's the notes that build upon each other to form chords. The notes are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G....

This is the second in my series of articles on chord construction. Here, I've outlined the basics of the minor chords.

Secondary dominants are a music theory application for expanding the harmonic palette of a song. The following will describe the construction, function and nature of secondary dominants.

This is part of a series of articles I've written on chord construction. Each "family" of related chords shares common traits you can learn to make it easy to remember them. It's...

A chord is three or more notes that are played together. There are many different variations chord structure.

Having a hard time learning chords, well this is a video, which comes in two parts, in which you will learn how to play the most important chords. Step by step instructions on the finger...

For those who want to learn to play piano quickly, this can best be accomplished by learning some basic chords (triads). Chords can be played with both hands while accompanying a singer. Chords...

Is guitar going to be your first instrument that you are trying to learn quickly and in short amount of time? Or maybe you are a musician and want to learn another instrument. Well, here are...

In jazz music, the B blues scale uses the minor third and minor seventh, although major chords can be used beneath it. Learn about the notes played in the B blues scale with help from a jazz...

The B pentatonic scale takes five notes from the B major scale, and is a great scale for making chords. Learn how to leave out the root when playing a pentatonic scale with help from a jazz...

Music theory in Western harmony refers to the set of guidelines that have been established by J.S. Bach and elaborated on by various composers over the last several centuries. Music theory...

You don't need to be a genius to learn how to play the guitar, and you may even be able to teach yourself. Take some advice from one who knows, though: Don't teach yourself.

A chord is composed of two or more notes. A chord can be played in unison, with all of the notes played at once, or it can be played one note at a time, which is called a broken chord. A...

The two major types of chord notation are classical and jazz. While each symbol from the respective musical style means the same thing, the differences can be confusing at first.

Music is a form of artistic expression that utilizes sound as its medium. Defining characteristics of music include pitch (the level of sound produced based on a range of sounds), dynamics (the...

Almost every piece of music ever written works by organizing chords into groups called chord progressions. As a chord is any group of three or more tones played simultaneously, a chord progression...

Music theory in Western harmony refers to the set of guidelines that have been established by J.S. Bach and elaborated on by various composers of the last several centuries. Music theory...

Guitar tab is a type of musical notation specific to the guitar. Guitar tab is written on a graph that features six lines representing the strings of the guitar. Numbers are placed on the lines to...

A chord chart is a graphical representation of chords, usually written in the form of a guitar neck. Chord charts are often used by musicians (especially in the jazz genre) to improvise solos...

Beginners on guitar have a hard time staying interested because they don't know where to start and are easily frustrated. Too many guitar teachers make the mistake of trying to teach technique...

You want to play piano by ear but you have been reading notes on paper so long you’ve convinced yourself it’s the only way you can play. You think trying to play the piano without music would be...

Knowledge of saxophone chords allows saxophonists to recognize familiar music. Discover the importance of saxophone chords with lessons from a music theory teacher in this free video on woodwind...

For the saxophone, a triad is a chord that can be played simultaneously. Learn about triad chords in saxophone playing with lessons from a music theory teacher in this free video on woodwind...

In saxophone chords, the root is the defining point of any triad or chord. Play saxophone chords and learn about the root note with lessons from a music theory teacher in this free video on...

For saxophone, the third note can be lowered a half step from the major to be a minor note. Play saxophone chords and learn about the third note with lessons from a music theory teacher in this...